Fabric.



L. PURYEAR.

FABRIC.

APPLICATION rlLnn JAN. 9, 1907.

922,81 1 Patented May 25, 1909.

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muawma f0 ermtmr HIT/L re 5565 0' 4 @lidlwrte a I P51 3 I T Jews? 'eaa- UNITED PATENT LEWIS PURYEAR, OF MEBANE, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO ELLIOTT J. MCKNIGHT, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, AND HENRY W. BASON, OF MEBANE, NORTH CAROLINA, AND ONE-THIRD TO LEVI G. MCKNIGIIT, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS.

FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS PURYEAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mebane, in the county of Alamance and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Fabric, of which the following is a specification.

My nvention relates to a new article of manufacture in the form of a fabric for chairseats or backs, baby carriages, baskets and the like, formed from a substance which heretofore has been a waste material.

The chief objects of my invention are to produce a fabric of this character which will be stronger, more easily worked, more durable, and also less expensive than has been the case heretofore, and to utilize for the reeds of the fabric, the leaf-stalks or midribs of the saw palmetto which has been here tofore, so far as I am aware, a waste material.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the leafstalk or mid-rib of a saw palmetto slit longitudinally to show how the reeds for the construction of the fabric are obtained. Fig. 2 shows one form of chair-seat made from the outside reeds thus obtained, and Fig. 3 shows another form of fabric in which the piths or cores of the leaf-stalks are utilized as well as the outside reeds.

The main central rib or leaf-stalk of the saw palmetto heretofore has been regarded practically as a waste material, and although it may have had some limited usefulness in certain arts, I believe it has not been used for the purpose of making fabrics. Now I have discovered that when properly dried and treated, these main ribs may, be utilized for the purpose of making fabrics for chair-seats and similar articles. In utilizing this material for the above mentioned purposes, the stalks are denuded of the leaflets and dried and may, at the same time, be colored if desired. These stalks are of a general triangular shape in cross-section, and when dried they are split longitudinally near their outer surfaces into strands in the manner indicated in 1, so as to provide a plurality of reeds having as their outer surface the exterior surface of the mid-ribs which is ordinarily of a somewhat smooth and finished appearance. These reeds are removed from the surface of the outside of the leaf-stalk, leaving within a substantially cylindrical shaped core or pith which also may be utilized. The reeds thus produced from the outside of the stem are trimmed to a substantially thin flat shape and woven in any desired way to produce the fabric, and especially to produce chairseats and backs etc. These reeds may be used alone in the manner indicated in Fig. 2, or they may be used in combination with the central core, a plurality of the cores being placed longitudinally to constitute warpreeds, and cross reeds or weft in both cases being formed of the split, thin, fiat outer parts of the stems or mid-ribs as is indicated in Fig. 3, and they may be woven in any way common with ratan. It is to be observed that by carrying out my method for the production of the outside and center reeds or the former alone, this waste material is utilized in such a way that it has great commercial value. Furthermore, the material is light, durable and strong, and can be worked easily so that chair-seats and the like produced from it are of less weight and greater strength and durability than those produced from some materials heretofore employed. Also the cost of manufacture is greatly reduced.

hile I have illustrated and described certain forms in which my new material can be conveniently woven, it is to be understood that the same can be employed in any of the ordinary kinds of weaving for this and similar purposes. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular forms of weaving illustrated, but

hat I do claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. As an article of manufacture a fabric formed entirely from reeds taken from the triangular stems or midribs of the leaves of the saw-palmetto, and the weft thereof con sisting of such reeds made from the thin split, flat, outer skins of said triangular stems or mid-ribs reduced to a flat shape therefrom.

2. As an article of manufacture a fabric composed of longitudinal or warp reeds formed from the cylindrical aith or inner portion of the stem or mid-1i s of the saw palmetto, and cross reeds or weft strands formed from the fiat dried outer skins of said stems or mid-ribs.

3. The method of forming fabrics which consists in drying palmetto stems or midribs, splitting the outside parts therefrom leaving a substantially cylindrical center piece, arranging a plurality of center pieces side by side, and weaving the strips or reeds taken from the outside portions of the stems crosswise between said center pieces.

4. A method of making a fabric which consists in removing the outer skins of the trian- 10 gular stems or mid-ribs of the leaves of the I saw-palmetto, reducing them to a flat shape, drying them and weaving them as weft to form a fabric.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing J 5 Witnesses.

LEWIS PURYEAR. Witnesses:

PAUL JoHNsoN, J. R. ADAMS. 

